During the manufacturing of semiconductor devices, it may be necessary to split a semiconductor wafer into two vertical portions, e.g. for the production of Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) wafers. In some systems, a Smart Cut process may be used, which may be based on forming cavities within a region of the semiconductor wafer, which are then used to split the wafer vertically during a heating step. To form the cavities, in some systems, a very high dose of proton radiation may be required, which may lead to a high process complexity and high processing costs.